I find the poll of polls that Rob Salmond over at Pundit does to be more informative than individual polls. This one seems like a bit of a huge swing and thus possibly an outlier given the relatively low movement over the past few months. Even that though, without (I think) the current poll, has Labour ticking slightly up and National slightly down. Labour shouldn't be counting chickens on the basis of the one poll though.

I have my own biases, but I'm feeling rather buoyed at the moment by Cuniliffe's speech. Makes it feel like that there is someone in Labour who is capable of looking at the world as it is rather than through Pagani glasses - even if he was part of the governments that made some of the mistakes. I'm more comfortable with politicians who are capable of admitting mistakes. They've a way to go though.

In the early 80's, the NZ Labour party was 'entryised' by socially liberal right-wingers like Roger Douglas, for whom the Muldoon National party was an unacceptable berth. More left-wing social liberals went along because they wanted social reforms and tolerated right-wing economics - possibly they believed in trickle-down, or thought the economic changes were inevitable and better implemented by Labour than National.

There was a general belief in the late 20th century that capitalism was the best and only means of social organisation and the task of social democrat parties was to regulate and ameliorate its excesses. Since then, we've had the dotcom crash, the security obsession, the banking crash, Southern European debt 'crises' and the revelations of Murdoch's corruption.

That little lot has convinced many (including me) that we've gone beyond a world where a bit of twiddling around the edges will sort everything out. If people in NZ Labour are finally seeing this, that can only be a good thing - and this goes well beyond the horserace politics dearly loved by the NZ media love.

Having read the speech, Cunliffe says 'here is the problem' - neo-liberalism. Ok, that's the problem, what solutions did he offer beyond no asset sales and taking more control of the economy? I agree neo-liberalism or 'trickle-down' is the problem here, and in the rest of the world. So instead of the rubbish our current government is dishing up; cronyism, corporate welfare, deficit-funded tax cuts for the rich, commodity exports and dog-whistle politics, people are looking for something different.Shearer and/or Cunliffe should come up with the solutions now; looking after the middle class, changing the Reserve Bank Act to foster exports, tackling entitlement reform, money into research & education. They need to start promoting these policies now to provide real alternative at the next election. In the meantime, NZ is just sliding away under a mountain of debt.

To be fair, it was billed as the first in a series of speeches. I'm genuinely interested to see what he presents.

Yes, his quoting of Bernard Hickey was very interesting. Hickey has diverged substantially from the neoliberal consensus in some of his suggestions, and Labour even looking at some of them is incredibly heartening, if that is what is happening.

I'd be a bit more charitable and say that he is suggesting this leader is open to input. To some degree I don't feel like that's been true of some previous leaders.

It would be a pity if these speeches were basically a leadership coup in the making. I'd really like the Labour Party to start working on winning an election rather than having individual party members focussed on winning a seat on the front bench.

Some people still dont get it . Fay is one member of a consortium of buyers which includes iwi, for twelve individual farms. Whether he is a good farmer or not, the law doesnt require him or any other NZ citizens to get permission to buy the land.It would seem that Shanghai Penxin have skirted around the requirements of stewardship of the land or even dairying experience by getting the government to run the farms and milk the cows for them.

Fay is one member of a consortium of buyers which includes iwi, for twelve individual farms.

Well yes he is but we still have the old memories of Fay and Richwaite taking the taxpayer for one hell of a ride and it's a bit glum that he is collecting real estate.His profile has probably helped in some ways but not in others.

There's another, maybe even more charitable, but still plausible, reading of "share" in that sentence, which is to imply that his leader (and perhaps, also, his audience) may already have those values. If that's the intention, it does not support in the slightest any speculation of a coup.

It would be a pity if these speeches were basically a leadership coup in the making. I'd really like the Labour Party to start working on winning an election rather than having individual party members focussed on winning a seat on the front bench.

Totally. I'd go with the charitable reading - economic development is a plenty ambitious enough portfolio for Cunliffe's talent, and it's not like Shearer has said his mind is made up on everything and there's no room for any of his colleagues to have opinions.

There’s another, maybe even more charitable, but still plausible, reading of “share” in that sentence,

I might be biased but I didn't read any negativity in his speech, his Herald article or his intro on the Labour blog. As he notes, he has been out and about and doing his job and has come back to address the issues that concern his position as spokesperson for Economic Development and Finance of which I think he is perfect for.

Some people still dont get it . Fay is one member of a consortium of buyers which includes iwi, for twelve individual farms. Whether he is a good farmer or not, the law doesnt require him or any other NZ citizens to get permission to buy the land.

Fay’s the leader of the consortium, which includes two iwi groups. And given his appalling record of asset-stripping, as noted by Cunliffe, that does not make me feel comfortable. I find his sudden recourse to economic nationalism unconvincing. As I’ve written before, in my ideal world, he and Richwhite would be arrested at the border.

It would seem that Shanghai Penxin have skirted around the requirements of stewardship of the land or even dairying experience by getting the government to run the farms and milk the cows for them

It’s not the government, it’s Landcorp, an SOE. And they haven’t really “skirted around” the requirements, so much as publicly met them. They’ve even indicated a willingness to sell two of the farms to the iwi groups. Do you have an issue with them beyond the fact that they’re Chinese?

it’s not like Shearer has said his mind is made up on everything and there’s no room for any of his colleagues to have opinions.

He actually says the opposite. He said his Party are plenty capable of expressing well their concerns and solutions and he didn’t mind where advice comes from plus as spokespeople in opposition, they have their parts to play.That is my sadness for Dalziel in that her responsibilities in the Party are vast for Christchurch alone, and it would be those that do make her look alone on any Chch issues in Parliament.